MorningHint
Poople #441 · Thursday, October 29, 2026

Poople Hint Today — #441, starting from CART

Today's Poople hints for #441: four clues for the shortest path from CART to POOP, from the ladder's length to the last step, then the full answer. Open only what you need — everything stays hidden until you tap it.

1How long is the ladder?Tap to reveal

The shortest ladder from CART to POOP takes 5 steps — that is 4 words in between. There are 3 different shortest ladders, so you have a little room.

2Which letter changes first?Tap to reveal

Change the third letter of CART first. Of the 16 real words one letter away from it, only 2 keep you on a shortest ladder.

3The halfway wordTap to reveal

Halfway there you pass through COOT.

4The last stepTap to reveal

The last word before POOP is COOP.

Show today's Poople answer (the full ladder)

CART → CAST → COST → COOT → COOP → POOP

5 steps. One of 3 shortest ladders; we show the one built from the most common words.

Ready to try it? Play today's Poople at poople.io.

How Poople works

Poople is a daily word ladder. You get one four-letter starting word and have to reach POOP, changing exactly one letter at a time. Every word along the way has to be a real word, and the goal is the shortest possible ladder: your score is how many extra steps you took beyond the best one. Everyone in the world gets the same starting word, and a new one arrives at 08:00 UTC each day.

Getting unstuck

Work backwards from POOP. Only about a dozen words sit one step away from it, and every ladder has to finish on one of them. Think of a few, picture which one your starting word is closest to, then build the ladder towards it.

Get the double O early. The OO in the middle is what makes POOP awkward. Most ladders reach a word that already has a double O somewhere in the middle and then fix the outside letters one at a time.

Change the hardest letter first. A letter that only a few words allow in that spot, such as an X or a Q, rarely gets easier later, so swap it out at the start.

Count before you commit. If the shortest ladder is five steps and your plan already needs six, stop and look for a different second word rather than finishing a long ladder.

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